Foundational Skills for Elementary Students
A research-validated, evidence-based suite of language and literacy programs for striving and thriving students in grades K-5.
Give every student the tools to become a confident reader. Our ESSA-validated programs, grounded in the Science of Reading, support prevention and intervention so all learners thrive, whether they're on track, need extra practice, or require targeted support. By systematically building oral language, phonemic awareness, decoding, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension, we create strong foundations, close gaps early, and set students on the path to lasting literacy success.
Our oral language and literacy programs combine research-based instruction with a user-friendly design. Cohesive lessons build skills step by step across grade levels, creating structured progression for every student. With flexible tools, immersive content, and 20 years of expertise, RGR supports whole class instruction and targeted intervention to develop confident readers for life.
A complete oral language toolkit, addressing pre- and post-implementation assessment, whole class instruction, intervention, and PD, lays the foundation for reading proficiency.
Systematic instruction develops phonemic awareness, phonics, decoding, fluency, spelling, and handwriting, enhanced by multilingual resources that support growth for all learners.
Lessons in phonics, morphology, and vocabulary link decoding to meaning, deepening comprehension and giving students tools to tackle advanced texts with confidence.
Assessments and progress monitoring reveal skill gaps, guiding targeted instruction. Data insights help educators deliver timely, effective support within an MTSS framework.
Training, coaching, and aligned resources strengthen educator practice and ensure students stay on track toward literacy goals.
Unified routines support whole-class, multilingual learners, and special education. Flexible tools prevent gaps from growing and ensure all students make progress.
Foundations for Language
Strong oral language is the bedrock of reading success. Without well-developed listening, speaking, and language comprehension skills, students will struggle to understand and engage deeply with text, even if they can decode words.
- The Missing Link: Integrating oral and print language from the start ensures students understand what they read, not just sound it out
- Better Together: In partnership with OxEd & Assessment, RGR connects oral language assessment and development to literacy instruction
- Proven Impact: One of the most evidence-based global programs, supporting whole-class instruction and intervention
Kindergarten Confidence
Countdown, our ESSA-validated kindergarten solution, equips students with phonemic awareness, phonics, academic vocabulary, letter knowledge, fluency, and handwriting skills.
- Multisensory & Interactive: Visual, auditory, and tactile learning keep students engaged
- Early Exposure: Builds essential literacy skills for strong decoding and fluent reading
- Game-Based Practice: Digital Playgrounds reinforce lessons through play
- Igniting Orthographic Mapping: Powers the process for fluent, automatic reading
First-Grade Fluency
Blast, our research-proven 1st grade literacy program, develops decoding skills and fluency with high-frequency words as well as strategies for tackling new words and refining handwriting skills.
- Engaging & Multimodal: Hands-on materials coupled with visual and auditory supports make learning stick
- Built for Fluency and Confidence: Sequential lessons deepen decoding and fluency, cultivating a growth mindset in every learner
- Data-Driven Instruction: Cumulative instruction and embedded assessment pinpoint areas of improvement
- Research-Aligned Digital Practice: Game-based activities reinforce skills and accelerate progress
Second-Grade Momentum
HD Word, our evidence-based grade 2 program, builds advanced decoding, fluency, and comprehension through a systemic, multisensory approach.
- Fast-Paced Decoding: Teaches six syllable types and multisyllabic strategies for decoding complex words
- Strengthening Understanding: Improves comprehension and oral reading fluency using authentic, expository, knowledge-building text
- Cumulative Practice: Extensive review and reinforcement of taught concepts ensure mastery and retention
- Multisensory Engagement: Print, digital, and multimodal tools imprint learning that lasts while students master new skills or revisit previously introduced concepts that need reinforcement
Third-Grade Mastery
Orbit, our grade 3 program, bridges foundational skills with advanced word knowledge through interactive lessons in phonics, morphology, and vocabulary.
- Fostering Curiosity: Students master word analysis skills, delve into word parts, discover connections across subjects
- Accelerating Growth: Captivating lessons strengthen advanced multisyllabic decoding, word knowledge, and morphological awareness
- Insights and Visibility: Actionable data guide instruction and targeted support
- From Foundational Skills to Fluency: Simplifies complex concepts and builds strategic, independent readers
Strong oral language is the bedrock of reading success. Without well-developed listening, speaking, and language comprehension skills, students will struggle to understand and engage deeply with text, even if they can decode words.
- The Missing Link: Integrating oral and print language from the start ensures students understand what they read, not just sound it out
- Better Together: In partnership with OxEd & Assessment, RGR connects oral language assessment and development to literacy instruction
- Proven Impact: One of the most evidence-based global programs, supporting whole-class instruction and intervention
Countdown, our ESSA-validated kindergarten solution, equips students with phonemic awareness, phonics, academic vocabulary, letter knowledge, fluency, and handwriting skills.
- Multisensory & Interactive: Visual, auditory, and tactile learning keep students engaged
- Early Exposure: Builds essential literacy skills for strong decoding and fluent reading
- Game-Based Practice: Digital Playgrounds reinforce lessons through play
- Igniting Orthographic Mapping: Powers the process for fluent, automatic reading
Blast, our research-proven 1st grade literacy program, develops decoding skills and fluency with high-frequency words as well as strategies for tackling new words and refining handwriting skills.
- Engaging & Multimodal: Hands-on materials coupled with visual and auditory supports make learning stick
- Built for Fluency and Confidence: Sequential lessons deepen decoding and fluency, cultivating a growth mindset in every learner
- Data-Driven Instruction: Cumulative instruction and embedded assessment pinpoint areas of improvement
- Research-Aligned Digital Practice: Game-based activities reinforce skills and accelerate progress
HD Word, our evidence-based grade 2 program, builds advanced decoding, fluency, and comprehension through a systemic, multisensory approach.
- Fast-Paced Decoding: Teaches six syllable types and multisyllabic strategies for decoding complex words
- Strengthening Understanding: Improves comprehension and oral reading fluency using authentic, expository, knowledge-building text
- Cumulative Practice: Extensive review and reinforcement of taught concepts ensure mastery and retention
- Multisensory Engagement: Print, digital, and multimodal tools imprint learning that lasts while students master new skills or revisit previously introduced concepts that need reinforcement
Orbit, our grade 3 program, bridges foundational skills with advanced word knowledge through interactive lessons in phonics, morphology, and vocabulary.
- Fostering Curiosity: Students master word analysis skills, delve into word parts, discover connections across subjects
- Accelerating Growth: Captivating lessons strengthen advanced multisyllabic decoding, word knowledge, and morphological awareness
- Insights and Visibility: Actionable data guide instruction and targeted support
- From Foundational Skills to Fluency: Simplifies complex concepts and builds strategic, independent readers
An integral part of our foundational literacy programs, RGR’s eBook library provides targeted reading practice fully aligned to the carefully sequenced phonics progression in our suite. Each title is assignable and becomes available alongside the corresponding digital practice games, ensuring students practice only the skills they've been taught. The decodables reinforce high frequency words, strengthen phonics skills, and build reading confidence with each turn of the page.
Every interaction, comprehension question, and reading completion datapoint is tracked and accessible in the Teacher Dashboard, enabling educators to monitor growth while students explore their own virtual booklet.
Curious About Implementation or Pricing?
We don’t just hand you tools. We work alongside you to use them with purpose and precision. You get a partner who understands your goals and helps you reach them.
Magnetic color tiles, letter tiles, and SyllaBoards™ let students see, hear, touch, and apply concepts through a variety of sensory experiences. This hands-on approach deepens understanding, builds long-term retention and transfers confidently to real-world reading.
Interactive digital practice tools, the Reading and Vocabulary Playgrounds, combine fun, practice, and assessment. Students practice in a fun tool that mindfully incorporates technology in literacy instruction, featuring a variety of assessment options and reinforcement opportunities for deeper learning.
Captivating, skill-level-appropriate stories with accompanying lessons build fluency and confidence. Beautifully illustrated and available in print or digital formats, RGR’s decodables provide consistent practice for grade-level reading success at school and at home.
A high-impact, low-prep toolkit simplifies teaching with ready-to-use lesson plans, engaging animations, and clear routines, helping educators teach with fidelity, maintain pace, and explain concepts effectively in minutes.
A smart resource hub gives educators instant access to essential tools, enabling them to search, save, and revisit materials without interrupting instruction, ensuring lessons stay on track while providing a smarter way to support learning.
Flexible onsite and virtual PD provides coaching, data reviews, and practical strategies that build consistency. Real-time support and micro-PD embedded in lessons offer in-the-moment guidance educators can use immediately.
Acquiring literacy in a new language takes the right support. RGR provides easy-to-use digital and print resources that connect language development to reading comprehension, helping all students, including newcomers, build strong foundations.
Our programs are designed for multilingual learners at every stage, combining explicit instruction, scaffolded practice, and culturally responsive materials. By focusing on students’ strengths, RGR equips English learners with the confidence, language skills, and comprehension strategies needed to succeed in school and beyond.
Elementary students get the extra practice they need to master phonics, decoding, and early word knowledge in the Reading Playground, a research-aligned, digital practice platform that reinforces skills taught in RGR’s foundational skills programs. Learners engage in motivating games and activities while educators gain real-time data to monitor progress, identify gaps, and personalize instruction across Tier 1 and intervention.
RGR’s programs consistently meet the highest standards for literacy instruction:
- EdReports awarded RGR all green, near-perfect scores for alignment, usability, and instructional quality
- Evidence for ESSA recognizes RGR programs for demonstrated improvements in student literacy outcomes
- ESSA Tier II studies show RGR programs accelerate student progress across classrooms
- The Reading League's review found no “red flags” across the skills RGR's programs target
- Rivet Education certifies RGR in the Professional Learning Partner Guide for high-quality educator PD
In a single school year, Greenfield Exempted Village School District overhauled its approach to early literacy. By embedding Really Great Reading’s tools into Tier 1 instruction, the district saw stronger fluency, consistent classroom routines, and a dramatic drop in Reading Improvement Plans.
From 40% to 9%: a powerful shift in K–2 reading outcomes.
What grades are RGR’s programs appropriate for?
RGR’s foundational literacy programs are appropriate for elementary students and can be used either as supplements in whole-class, Tier 1 settings in grades K-3, or as interventions in K-5.
If you suspect your students have foundational skill weaknesses, like poor decoding skills, RGR’s team of literacy experts as well as our complimentary Grouping Matrix will help you select the correct program based on your students’ areas of need. The
What components are included in the programs?
Each of our programs includes:
- Teacher Guide Set: Scripted, ready-to-teach lesson plans offering a thorough explanation of concepts, routines, and procedures and strategies for adjusting and differentiating instruction
- Online Teacher Presentation Tool: An engaging presentation tool designed for educators, delivers concise and effective instruction minimizing teacher prep time for new and experienced educators
- Student Workbook Set: Activities and practice opportunities included in the workbooks solidify student learning and help develop mastery and automaticity with key concepts
- Student Kit: Fun physical manipulatives (magnetic color tiles, letter tiles, and SyllaBoards™) ensure engagement and hands-on practice
- Decodable Books: Age-appropriate, engaging decodable texts in digital format for elementary learners. Also available in print for purchase!
- The Playgrounds: A dynamic practice platform that helps students independently practice their newly acquired skills
- Really Great Handwriting: A tool designed to empower students to excel in printed handwriting, spelling, and written expression (included in Countdown, Blast, and HD Word)
- Assessments: Tools for ongoing progress monitoring and timely reporting that enable educators to identify and address classroom and individual student needs
- Educator Training: In-person or virtual training designed for teachers of elementary readers, even those without prior Science of Reading experience
What is the recommended time of daily instruction?
We recommend 20-30 minutes of direct, explicit foundational skills instruction per day (including direct lessons on phonemic awareness, phonics, and handwriting), plus additional time for whole class, small group, and independent practice:
- Direct instruction: 15-20 minutes (phonemic awareness and phonics) + 10 minutes (handwriting)
- Small-group instruction: 20-30 minutes daily
- Independent student practice: 30-40 minutes weekly (often completed during small group time as other students are working with the teacher)
- Decodable books: Additional whole group practice (including decodable books/passages, spelling, and dictation): 5-10 minutes daily
- Assessment: at the beginning, middle, and end of program; formatively throughout each unit; and between units for progress monitoring
However, we know that the needs of each student, classroom, school, and district are unique, so our literacy partners work directly with your team to ensure a successful, flexible, and impactful implementation of our solutions, no matter the frequency or length of your whole class or intervention sessions.
Can any teacher implement RGR’s programs for intervention, or is specialized Science of Reading training required?
Any educator or paraprofessional can implement our interventions. The programs are designed to be teacher-friendly, with scripted lessons, built-in tools, and minimal prep time required. Training is included, to help educators regardless of their background in literacy instruction successfully deliver the interventions while improving their understanding and implementation of the Science of Reading.
Where can I find a sample of RGR’s elementary decodables?
Here are a few digital samples you can visit:
3rd Grade decodable sample – coming soon!
Where can I access samples of your oral language program?
You can download a broad selection of oral language samples for free on our website.
Have RGR’s programs been evaluated for their efficacy by external examiners or third parties?
Yes! RGR programs are ESSA-validated and grounded in the Science of Reading. Our foundational literacy programs meet ESSA’s rigorous Tier II criteria. Really Great Reading's programs have also received all green, near-perfect EdReports scores through EdReports' independent review process.
The Reading League, a trusted authority in Science of Reading literacy instruction, has also thoroughly evaluated our programs and found no "red flags" in the areas our programs are designed to address: Word Recognition, Phonological and Phoneme Awareness, Phonics and Phonic Decoding, Fluency, Handwriting, and Spelling.
These external validations highlight the effectiveness of RGR’s literacy programs in building strong, capable readers. Our tools are designed to meet high standards and deliver real results.
Has OxEd & Assessment’s oral language program been evaluated for their efficacy?
Yes, OxEd & Assessment’s oral language program is one of the most thoroughly researched programs globally and has a robust evidence base which proves its positive impact on language and literacy outcomes. You can learn more here.
What is the cost of RGR’s foundational literacy programs?
For detailed pricing information, please contact our team at [email protected] or 866-401-7323, or request a quote.